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Friday, July 25, 2014

One of my favorite series on
television is Mad Men on American Movie Classics. It’s a show about an advertising agency set
in the 1960’s and features stories, fashion and advertising from that era. Much like Mad Men, fitness is making a
comeback to the masses. What was once only for “those people,” fitness is
experiencing a renaissance with a boom in popularity, attention and
participation.

Last week I introduced you to
the lasted electronic devices in personal fitness trackers! These devices are usually worn on the wrist
and track your steps and provide feedback on your activity level. Like other
personal devices like smart phones, tracking your activity can be addictive and
in this case this obsession can be a healthy one, literally!

Now that you have your
personal fitness device, what’s next?
Another new element to the fitness boom concerns health and fitness challenges. I was very excited and happy to see my
employer institute a two month fitness challenge for employees that will reward
the prizes for those with the most minutes of activity with the overall goal of
getting people active and on the road to good health.

Participants can link their
personal fitness devise to their heath challenge account and can also manually
enter data. While I am very active with
all my training the fitness challenge even raised my level of activity and
awareness and has provide for some fun dialog with coworkers.

Fitness challenges can be an
excellent way to help you get and stay active.
While there are many national challenges to choose from, I found that
most people experience the most success when setting up their own challenge
with friends and family. Here are some ideas for helping you set up your
challenge with friends and family.

Identify those closest to you
that will be active in the challenge and will be supportive of each other.
Remember the goal is for everyone to get fit and healthy and enjoy the process.

Set goals for the challenge
with prizes or a big celebration for the top three in the challenge.

Setting up a private group on
Facebook is an excellent way for members to share their results and share
encouragement with each other.

Texting workout results to
the team is a great way to stay connected and can motivate others to get
moving.

The challenge can be set up
in many different ways. For example you
can have your challenge be a set of exercise everyone does every day for 30
days then compare the pre and post challenge fitness results such as pounds or
inches lost. Another idea for a challenge is award prizes for the top three
individuals that have the most active minutes in a predetermined time frame.

No matter what you choose for
your challenge, remember the goal is to get moving, have fun and enjoy the
process. Fitness challenges can be
really fun and you may be surprised to find you have a very competitive side.

HERE’S TO
BEING FIT FOR LIFE!

Chris is a Certified Personal Trainer and
exercise and endurance enthusiast. He
competes yearly in numerous running races, marathons, ultra marathons,
triathlons and other endurance events.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

It seems today if we don’t
have a devise in our hand or on our body that provides loads of data we can’t
function as a human race. While smart
phones and sports watches (they started the data thirsty craze) have been
around for a few years, there is a new partner joining the party.

Interesting this new entrant
is so new; we have not yet crafted a “catch all” name like smart phones. The newbie in today’s fitness technology is
host of wearable tech gadgets that track your every move, the number of steps you
take, the calories you burn, your active minutes and can even track the quality
of your sleep.

While the new gadgets don’t
tell you to put down the donuts, scream at you to run faster or play soft music
when you are not sleeping well (that would be a bit too close to the Twilight
Zone) they do provide a lot of data to those that are keen on using technology
to improve their health.

While most technology is
designed to make us inactive, wearable technology such as Fitbit, Jawbone UP24,
Nike+ Fuel Band and the Garmin Vivofit among others does exactly the
opposite. What estimates to be a $30
billion industry by 2018, these “get off your butt” gadgets are flying off the
shelves with one in 10 Americans now sporting one of these devices.

Being a highly active person,
I was hesitant to see the value in these modern day pedometers. Giving into
peer pressure and never being at a loss to purchase something new, I bought the
Fitbit for May and me. It didn't take long for me to see the value these
devices hold for anyone.

A 2010 study of 123,216
people, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that the more
leisure time spent sitting, the higher risk of death! While I’m not sure we had to spend buckets of
money to come to that conclusion, wearable trackers can shine a light on the
inner couch potato you don’t know you had.

The main benefit of these
devices, in my opinion, is the awareness users have regarding their activity
level, calories burned and sleep patterns.
Based on the Hawthorne effect, a sociological phenomenon in which people
behave better when they are being observed, these gadgets provide a constant
stream of data that can be viewed on the device or in an app on your smart
phone.

Fitbit says its users take
43% more steps than they did before the bought one. Add in the social features these devices
offer such as sending friends cheers or taunts or simply receiving an “Atta
Boy” for achieving your goal, the modest costs is well worth the investment to
add a little awareness and self-pressure to improve your fitness.

Ironically we now have
another device to bury our heads into and instead of talking about the ball
game last night; conversations are turning towards “Hey did you hit your step
goal?” While my office is usually as quite
as an abandoned building, I often hear a periodic outburst of “Yes” or “I
Nailed It!” No they are not crazy but I
do know they just hit there step goal for the day and that motivates me to get
up and walk around…after all I have to have the most steps for bragging rights
during our coffee talk the next morning.

HERE’S TO
BEING FIT FOR LIFE!

Chris is a Certified Personal Trainer and
exercise and endurance enthusiast. He
competes yearly in numerous running races, marathons, ultra marathons,
triathlons and other endurance events.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Well I am now officially a trail runner!The Xterra Trail series made another stop on
Sunday, July 13 in Columbia as the series came to Harbison State Forrest for is
second stop of the year.

I was excited for this race, as I have planned to do three
other Xterra races at Harbison but have either been a week out from the Disney
Marathon trip or have been sick.

A beautiful morning greeted all runners with sunny skies and
a wonderful, but very humid 71 degrees.Having no idea for what I was in for, I elected to wear my Camelbak
hydration pack as although there were five aid stations on the course, I was
concerned with just how much room and water was carried deep into the woods.It turned out to be a good decision!

The second big question was concerning footwear.While I am an ardent Saucony Kinvara 4 fan
and I do have a pair of Saucony Kinvara 2 trail shoes, I was torn what to wear
today.Unfortunately I was not able to
practice on the trails so I had to make a decision based on friend’s advice and
gut feeling.

With a 62-mile week in the books, my left foot was a bit
tender and my Kinvara 2 trail shoes, while flexible were still a bit stiff and
I was worried the stiffness would affect my foot.After changing shoes twice, I opted for my
Kinvara 4 minimal road shoes and off to the starting line I went.That turned out to work but I will need to
find a good trail show that has some support and cushioning but still a minimal
feel.I think the Saucony Kinvara 2
Trail Shoe will work, I just need to practice in them.

It was good to see Elliott and Lish Dominick, Ann and Scott
Prince, Cindy Long, Betty Best and Dr. David Hale at the event.Elliott and Lish’s 15 son Avery was also
running the event. Avery is an avid and talented runner and ended up winning
today’s event with a time of 1:21 and beat the second place person by 3:06, an
amazing time and an even better young man. (the triathlon bug has also bitten
him and he has a ton of potential in both running and triathlon)

The race was a total blast!As I thought, the course was very technical and it took a lot of
concentration to watch the ground and the runners ahead of you.While I saw several people meet the ground in
a less than graceful fashion, I also saw many “award winning” near misses and
great saves that would make a ballerina proud.One goal was to stay on my two feet the entire race and good, clean
hands at the end of the race would mean goal number one was complete –and it
was.

Another goal was to run this race as a training run and not
get swept up in the moment and overrun my ability on a trail course, seeing as
I don’t have any experience and didn’t want to end up injured.

The races stated with a “spirited” pace but soon settled in
to a nice run.The first two miles of
the course were relatively benign and relatively flat which made for some fast
running. I always get a kick out of the start of races as a lot of folks get
caught up in the moment and go out in a flurry of speed, only to blow up or
tire considerably before half way.Although I’m not fast, I am a decent runner and its always a good
feeling knowing I settled into the race and am able to catch a lot of these
folks as the race continues.Today was
no exception.

Miles 3-7 were very technical and hilly as we entered the
“Spider Woman” trail. While never one to walk in a race, the boulders and
rocks, coupled with the intense elevation called for brief bits of walking to
make sure I had secure footing and didn’t do my best Humpty Dumpty
impersonation.Goal accomplished.

While making a HUGE mistake in not eating when I got up
(while do I always do that) I had a good plan and stuck to it. I let the race
come to me, controlled my pace and watched my footing.I was very pleased with my conditioning as I
figured I was moving faster than I had anticipated or planned for but due to
the dense forest, my GPS watch was less than accurate so I had to run by feel.

I had 62 miles of running this week and 60 miles on my bike,
which I realized before the end of mile one was a “bit much” for what this
course was going to dish up. No time to think about that or burning thighs so
on with the race.My GPS told me I was
running at a 10:37 pace but I felt it closer to 9:30 I did my best Forrest Gump
impersonation and just kept running.

While learning the technical aspects of the race while on
the run, literally, my plan was to take advantage of my hill running ability
and crest each hill strong, take a controlled down hill approach to save my
thighs and once on the flats let my heart rate settle down and settle into a
manageable pace.I had to laugh at mile
three as I had one person behind me breathing so hard I was praying he did not
drop over from heart or respiratory failure.

I am sure Harbison State Forrest is beautiful but with very
narrow trails and a lot of sharp climbs and descents I only saw about 10% of
it. Once through the elevation and rocks of Spider Woman we were rewarded with
a nice stretch of wide trails and a mile of flat, beautiful trail.I did learn that the trail was so narrow in
spots it was literally impossible to pass so a little advance recon was in
order and I had to pick my spots and make a move.

Once clear of Spider Woman, the trail thinned out and I had
a lot of space to work in.I was able to
regain my race pace and cruised relatively easy to the finish. While there will
still some hills to work, I shortened my stride and was able to climb the long,
mild grades much easier than some of the other racers.

I was very happy to see the finish line and see May and
Elli, the best support team anyone could ask for!Elli was ringing her cowbell and I was
especially happy for the ice-cold towel and the ability to sit enjoy the
moment.

I ended up with at time of 2:01:27 and a 9:17 pace, much
faster than I thought. I was 55 out of 177 men and was 76th overall out of 309 entrants. My foot was also in
good shape. While tired and my thighs were extremely sore, I was in good shape
and my IRONMAN training along with my strength training definitely paid off.I was surprised to see a lot of fellow
triathletes competing in this race and we all shared some good conversation.

I was happy with my first trail race and based on some of
the mistakes I made (no food prior to race and high mileage week) coupled with
a cautious approach to the race, I think I can shape 10-12 minutes off the next
event on that course.

It was a great event and great morning for a quiet romp
through nature. Elli had a great time playing with other children, looking for
rocks and doing a little running herself.As you can see, she was pooped on the way home.

Elli’s favorite place is Moe’s Southwestern Grill so off we
went (after a great show) for tons of veggies in The Homewrecker Burrito and
then off for some errands and a fund Sunday.I am definitely hooked and the experience codified my desire to head to
the mountains and take on a long ultra race next year.

Feel Like A Rock Star

About Me

Where focus goes energy flows. We are a product of our own imagination, desire, passion and drive. Accomplishment is a true test of ones soul. Anyone can achieve great things if they dream about what can be, believe and expect it to happen and build a plan to achieve amazing results.

Success does not prejudice, it is for everyone. Success leaves clues and clues are building blocks to action. If you want something bad enough you can achieve it.

I have a deep passion and love for my family, for success and for helping others achieve their dreams! You don't have to be rich, educated, a great athlete or tag yourself with any other limiting belief. I know, I had so many reasons why I could not do something it was paralyzing! When I finally had enough and dared to dream, focus and take action, great things happened. Was it scary? Sure, but I discovered ways to overcome my fears, face challenges head on and taste the sweetness of success.

The plan for accomplishment is easy if you want it bad enough and I would love to help you on your journey. Everyone needs a good coach to help you think differently, build a strategy and work with you to overcome your limiting beliefs while building a stronger you! If I can do it, you can too and I would love to be your partner in success!

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